When you start a home business,one of the most challenging things to do is to find clients and customers for the business. Because you're just starting out, it is likely that you will not have a lot of capital. Of course this makes everything a little harder. Your advertising budget will be very tight and you will have to be very careful to prioritise your budget. With this in mind here are a few ideas to help using both traditional and low cost, web based, methods.
1. Tell family and friends. This does not mean that you need to actually involve them in your business but it can be helpful simply because they would naturally be willing to mention your name and business while chatting with people. This should generate a few inquiries and help spread the word locally. Creating small but useful streams of local interest can be as simple as that and totally cost free. Let's look at a few more.
Join the Chamber of Commerce, you are sure to be welcomed and most such organisations have advisory units and are pleased to help. Many local authorities also have small business units and offer guidance and can alert you to regulatory requirements. Your local bank will almost certainly have something similar and can advise you on what you should include in your business plan if you are looking to arrange an overdraft at some point. You should attend functions where you can network and make others aware of your business. Again no cost involved.
3. Assuming yours is a physical product, you can give free samples to local businesses. As an example, if you have a gift or flower basket business, provide a free gift basket to suitable outlets like convenience stores, filling stations and the local bank or supermarket. Ask for it to be displayed on the counter, together with a set number of business cards. Counting the remaining cards the next day will give you a good idea of how many people had the interest to look at your basket. If that number looks worthwhile, then point it out to the owner or manager, and negotiate a commission for them, for any sold at their premises. Increased commission, based on the number sold, is an added incentive for them to take an interest, and to be sure your product is displayed in a clearly visible area.
4. Call on owners, or managers in related businesses, and see if they are interested in a joint venture. If you sell flowers, as in the example above, then outlets selling balloons, cards or other party paraphernalia, is likely to be a nice fit for your own business. You can offer discounts for their customers, and they can do the same for yours.
5. Get online. Here is the big one, both locally, and if you want to expand outside of your area. It is difficult to run a business nowadays without a website. Here is where you really need to squeeze your budget and bring in a designer to build your site. Talk to them about search engine optimisation. Explain that you need an easily navigable, uncluttered site. Do not overdo the graphics as too much can lead to a cramped appearance, and make the site look too complicated. If you don't have a website, you are missing out on a lot of business. Most people now search the Internet for what they want, even if they plan to buy locally. Create a website to take advantage of that.
When you are getting your site up and running, be sure to include an opt-in form. This is simply a space for people to enter their email address so that you can follow up with an email campaign and correspondence. Encourage them to fill in their details by offering a free gift or maybe a discount voucher. Join social media sites and contribute regularly. Another excellent and free source of traffic to your site. Relevant forums are also very useful, but you must get engaged in discussions, and offer relevant advice. In the case of your example it could be advice on flower arranging or maybe how to grow potted plants indoors for the winter. Gather this information using Google. Remember these alternatives are free or low cost so will fall in line with your limited budget.
Of the above examples, sensible use of social media and forums will pay dividends. These free sites allow friends, fans and contacts, access to you, and you must use the opportunity to build a reputation as an expert. Not difficult to do with our old friend Google to provide answers for the questions being asked. These are great ways for you to interact with prospective customers but you must offer them relevant or entertaining information. Resist the urge to hard-sell. This will not be appreciated. You may also have to wait a while on some of the forums before being allowed to insert a link back to your site.
If no one knows about your business, no -one can buy from you. What is more obvious than that?. But now that you have an idea of what is required it is up to you to take action, put these ideas into practice. With this, and the discipline to work to a strict schedule, you should be able to make your business grow.
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